Kanye West: the man, the myth, the scumbag?

Posted by admin on Nov 9, 2010 in Arts & Culture | 0 comments

When you hear the name “Kanye West,” what springs into your head? Narcissist? Jerk? Controversial figure? While all these things may be true, when I hear West’s name, other things come to mind: painfully honest; marketing genius; ambitious artist.

While West has long been at the center of controversy be it over his egotistical demeanour or his comments regarding Hurricane Katrina (“George Bush hates black people”) his public persona took its most damaging hit when he rushed the stage during MTV’s 2009 Video Music Awards; he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to protest the fact that Beyonce didn’t win instead. Following this, Kanye apologized, left America, and spent six months out of the public eye.

In the wake of the VMA fiasco, Kanye has re-emerged like a phoenix (an image he utilizes in his work), attempting to re-invent not only his music, but himself. Kanye took to Twitter in order to give his fans an unfiltered look at who he really is, and if you’re not following @kanyewest, you should be. He’s been using the service ever since, as a way to communicate openly and honestly with those who love him and those who love to hate him, and he’s been doing a fantastic job of it.

While the integrity of his character may still be in question, let nobody say that West isn’t ambitious: since August, he’s been releasing brand new songs every week through his G.O.O.D. Friday initiative, a trend that will continue until Christmas; he’s the head of the thriving G.O.O.D. Music label, which represents artists like Common, John Legend, and Kid Cudi; he’s recording a full-length EP with Jay-Z entitled Watch The Throne; and he’s planning to release an album with Child Rebel Soldier, the hip-hop supergroup he formed with Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams.

All of that aside, his most ambitious project might just be his 5th LP, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The 13-track album, which will be released on November 22nd, features nearly 30 guests and comes packaged with West’s 35-minute film, Runaway. The film, which West wrote and directed himself, also stars West (are you really surprised?) as he takes in a half-woman/half-phoenix. The film, while including some heavy-handed social commentary, is pretty much an extended music video for West’s new album. That doesn’t make it any less impressive.

Love him or hate him, Kanye West is a man on a mission: he’s here to leave his mark on pop culture, and so far, he’s succeeding. West continues to be one of the most progressive hip-hop artists around, and while others would hide themselves behind masks, Kanye continues to wear his heart on his sleeve. He’s good at what he does, and he knows it. He’s also well aware of the fact that he’s a jerk (listen to the song “Runaway” if you don’t believe me). Unfortunately, you can’t separate “the jerk” from “the artist,” but that’s part what makes him so entertaining and fascinating.